Two panels depict richly detailed allegorical scenes. The left panel features a central female figure seated on elaborate scrollwork resembling a cloud and floral throne. Above float two cherubic figures, one holding a globe and the other offering a laurel. Below sit two cherubic figures surrounded by plants and fruits. The right panel shows a monumental female figure on an elevated throne, surrounded by cherubic figures. She gestures with one hand, with a radiating sun and celestial globe above her. Symbolic objects like a skull, a mask, and an urn lie at her feet, set on a patterned floor. The panels are framed with intricate decoration, and a central column divides them, displaying celestial motifs like the sun, moon, and stars.
Read the visual description

Two panels depict richly detailed allegorical scenes. The left panel features a central female figure seated on elaborate scrollwork resembling a cloud and floral throne. Above float two cherubic figures, one holding a globe and the other offering a laurel. Below sit two cherubic figures surrounded by plants and fruits. The right panel shows a monumental female figure on an elevated throne, surrounded by cherubic figures. She gestures with one hand, with a radiating sun and celestial globe above her. Symbolic objects like a skull, a mask, and an urn lie at her feet, set on a patterned floor. The panels are framed with intricate decoration, and a central column divides them, displaying celestial motifs like the sun, moon, and stars.

National Gallery of Art · Print

Allegory of Spring (Allegorie des Frühlings)

Christian Friedrich Sprinck after Philipp Otto Runge

Date
1810/1831
Medium
etching on wove paper
Dimensions
sheet (trimmed within platemark): 11.8 × 18.5 cm (4 5/8 × 7 5/16 in.)
Classification
Print
Accession number
1943.3.9133
Credit line
Rosenwald Collection
Time span
1801 to 1825
Department
CG-E

Subjects and terms

  • German
  • Woman
  • Nude
  • Fruit
  • child
  • portrait
  • Skull
Provenance

Ernst Friedrich Georg Otto von der Malsburg (1786-1824), Kassel & Dresden (Lugt 1849bis). Lessing J. Rosenwald [1891-1979], Jenkintown, PA; gift to NGA, 1943.

Inscription

recto: in plate, above image, at center: VII; in plate, in image, at right [on cloth on steps]: PHILIP OTTO RUNGE.FECIT.MDCCCX.; in plate, below image, at center: Sprinck Sc. Dres.; verso: at lower left in graphite in later hand: 1142A

Marks

recto: none; verso: Ernst Friedrich Georg Otto von der Malsburg (Lugt 1849bis) and National Gallery of Art

NGA object ID 11642. Collection metadata is reproduced under CC0. This work is included because its NGA published-image record is marked open access; visitors should recheck the source record before substantial reuse.